PMD: The Final Frontier
by Arceus Arcanus
Summary: A thousand years into the future, and the Planetary Alliance is prospering. Alpha captains one of the most successful ships in the galaxy, the Antimatter. One simple rescue mission jeopardises everything he and his crew have ever known.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

The cold winds tore, howling furiously, around the tallest peak of Inviernus, whiting out navigation systems for klicks around, clouding the already near-opaque stratosphere with snow, and plunging the mountain into sub-zero temperatures with little concern for the two beings huddled on its heights.

"It's OK," the Beedrill reassured the Weedle that clung, whimpering, to her side. "I sent out the distress signal half an hour ago. Someone should have picked it up by now. They'll be here soon." She shivered as she stared at the frosted screen of her communicator, desperately praying that her words were true; the cold of winters on Inviernus had been known to finish off even Fire-types, and their weaknesses weren't helping matters. If they weren't rescued within the next few hours, they would not survive the night.

Footsteps crunched in the snow behind her. She whipped around, scythes held in front of her in a combat stance, red eyes scanning the blizzard. "Weedle. Activate your shield."

"Mummy?"

"Do it now!"

Crouching behind her, the Weedle gave one brief sob, then cried "Harden!" and was encased in a whitish, glistening coat. His mother readied her poison darts, tapping the spot on her thorax that stimulated toxin production to increase to deadly levels. "Show yourself!" She glanced through the impenetrable snowstorm. "Where _are _you?"

A silhouette moved closer to them, its shape obscured by the whirling flakes. The Beedrill remained oblivious, blades slashing randomly at the air in front of her.

Then, suddenly, came a loud beep from her communicator, and the sound of several sets of footsteps coming from her left. She whirled, and a smiling Pokémon resembling a fish entered her vision, followed by a sullen-looking Larvitar and a blue-helmeted one she could not identify. Their leader stepped forward, clicking on a small head-lamp to light up her position. "Are you the Beedrill that sent the distress beacon?"

"Y-yes," she stammered, almost choking with relief. Relaxing, she allowed her poison glands to shut down, and let her scythes fall down to hang at her sides. _We are going to live. _

"Excellent. We're just going to beam you up as soon as our ship comes in range, so get ready." He removed a small, shield-shaped object from his backpack, and directed the red crystal at its centre towards them. The Beedrill tensed her muscles once more. Teleportation was never a particularly pleasant experience, and in her current state it would probably be even worse. Preparing herself for matter disassembly, she stared up into the cloud layer, hoping to catch a glimpse of their rescuers' ship.

"Beta, bring her in close."

The harsh sound of engines filled the air, and several unbearably bright lights stabbed through the fog. A strong beating joined the cacophony as the down thrusters were brought online, and the leading edge of the ship dipped through the clouds. The Beedrill's mouth fell open.

Slowly descending closer and closer to the mountaintop was a ship the like of which she had never seen before. It was a gleaming silver, with a liquid, almost organic shape, coiled electric-blue plasma ducts writhing over its surface like veins. Enormous windows at the front were filled with the silhouettes of a dozen different species as they hurried about, making their final checks for landing. However, the size struck her most of all. A gargantuan, impossible metallic mountain, the ship that had answered their Mayday was the size of a city.

The energy beam hit, and dissolved her into a mass of golden particles, flowing in a bright current towards the open hangar. Her rescuer turned to his teammates and shot identical beams in their direction, before turning the device on himself. Their separated molecules sped after the Beedrill's, heading for the familiar reassembly chambers.

Wincing, the Beedrill slid the door of the chamber aside, and stepped out onto a spacious corridor. The windows opposite her held a view of stars, glittering in the endless night of space, and the fast-receding white dot of Inviernus. Behind her, three more doors slid open, and the fish-like Pokémon from before walked over and stood at her side. "Captain Alpha, madame. Welcome aboard the _Antimatter._"

_

* * *

_

ATTENTION: Receiving transmission from unknown source. Allow? Y/N


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning- contains/will contain swearing, drug references, sexual references, violence, and general destruction of childhood. If you're not going to click off this in disgust immediately, on with the show. **

* * *

A Treasure Hunter's World

Picture a thousand planets, in colours from a dull sand shade to the darkest viridian, scattered across a backdrop of stars like a spillage of cosmic jewels. Each possesses its own life-forms, its own perils and its own benefits. However, for many years, they remained separate, and their inhabitants could only look to the heavens and dream.

Then, the Psychics of Sapiens 1.4 changed all this, focusing their abilities to send a coded mental signal across the universe. Pokémon from Agni to Zeugma answered the call, and thus the foundations of the Planetary Alliance were laid. The intelligent, half-steel, half-thinking inhabitants of Ferrite used the Psychics' instructions to construct ships in which they could travel across the universe. The denizens of Kaminari worked day on night on power sources that would last for years. The brave, weather-sensing Zephyrans flew high in the atmosphere to take the measure of the solar winds. Slowly, steadily, they built their empire.

Many years later, the first space station had been completed and the major starlanes mapped. The moment when the pioneering species first met each other in person was known as the most joyous there had ever been. In the cramped, rudimentary conference room, they laid out the universe as they knew it. The major gigasectors –Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova- were drawn on a map for the first time, and their representatives signed a treaty to ensure they never fought. The first intergalactic laws were written, and, as they parted, the representatives pledged to keep working towards their goal.

A century later, and inter-gigasector travel had become common, cruisers' engines achieving speeds quintuple that of the previous generation. A century after that, and the Intergalactic Exploration Association was founded, headquartered on the now-renovated station that had hosted the first Conference. Its licenced members patrolled the galaxy, performing services for any of its inhabitants that requested them and could pay, and pushing the borders of the unknown further and further back. Its counterpart, the Intergalactic Rescue Association, served as a freelance police force.

Fifty-seven years, three months and two days afterwards, and a single Beedrill and her son were saved from the deadly Mount Avalanche.

A few minutes later, the Beedrill found herself seated at a table on the bridge of the ship, wrapped in several blankets whilst Captain Alpha requested that someone named Sigma be sent up to her. Weedle, overcome with shyness ever since first arriving on the ship, had cocooned himself in silk and refused to come out. Still in shock, both from the cold and their rescuers, his mother merely stared at the smooth metal surface, utterly incapable of movement or speech.

* * *

Captain Alpha seated himself beside her, now with a cape draped over his shoulders and the shield-shaped object from before –the ensign of the Intergalactic Exploration Association- pinned to his shoulder. They remained in silence for several minutes, watching planets drift past the windows.

The Captain broke the silence first. "Anywhere in particular you'd like to be put down?"

Dumbly, she shook her head.

"You're a Beedrill, so I suppose you must be from Pomona. Would Kinboshi do? The passenger ferries leave every other day, and you can probably find accommodation cheap."

She nodded.

"Good, good. Beta!" The pilot's chair swivelled to reveal a grinning Butterfree, visor pushed to the top of his head. "Set course for Kinboshi!"

"Yes, _sir!" _The Pokémon flashed them a smile, then turned back, wrapping his hands round the joysticks and shouting instructions to the navigators, who began to scribble calculations on charts littered across their workstations and call up maps of the nearest sectors. Beedrill watched them with interest. The largest ship she had ever worked on was the _RedShift _– a small freighter with a thirty-mon crew and most of its space taken up by the cargo it shipped. Everything had been minimal and pared-down, the captain careful to ensure the largest profit margins. This, on the other hand… Mew, it wasn't even in the same league. She wouldn't be surprised if its crew roster stretched into the thousands, and the gun emplacements she had seen on her way in made it clear that this ship had a very different purpose to the _RedShift. _And this Sigma… definitely a medic, which meant they had their own hospital wing onboard, which meant that they were a hell of a lot richer than the wildest dreams of your average crew. _Who in Genosect's name _are _they? _

"Miss?" She turned back to the captain, and saw him staring at her with a somewhat embarrassed look on his face. "There's just one final matter we have to clear up…"

_Payment. Damn._

A blush rose over her face, and she avoided his gaze. "Would it be all right if we paid you once we arrive at Kinboshi? It's just that-" She cut herself off.

"I see, I see. No funds on you. That's not a problem. The planet is famous for its banks, after all." _It's fine that you're poor and won't be able to give us anything until you pawn something. _

They remained in ashamed silence for a few minutes longer.

"Could I ask you a question?" Surprised, the Captain looked at the Pomonad. "What species are you from? I used to travel a lot, but I haven't seen anything like you."

He smiled. "That's easy. I'm a Mudkip, hailing from Samudra 8. It's in the Hoenn gigasector- I'm honestly not surprised you haven't heard of it. You're from GS Kanto, are you not?" Relieved, she returned his grin. "And now, might I ask you a question? What were a lone Beedrill and her son doing at the top of the highest peak in Inviernus?"

She looked away, took deep breaths to compose herself, and, finally, calm, turned back to him. "My husband is quite sick. I asked a healer back on Pomona and she said that his illness could only be cured by a certain type of herb growing on Inviernus. I didn't trust anyone back there, so I had to take Weedle with me. We failed to find it, got lost… and had to send out for rescue." Beedrill glared back at him. "Are you happy now?"

"I'm very sorry. Perhaps you could talk to one of our medics- speak of the devil! Sigma, this is Beedrill and her little son Weedle. Could you take a quick look, please?"

"What do you think you're paying me for?" Approaching them from one of the multiple doorways that opened off the bridge was a small, green-and-white-furred Pokémon with a pink blossom sprouting from each side of her head, followed by a hovering guerney and a trolley laden with medical implements and dangerous-looking chemicals. She padded over to them, the two devices whirring behind her, and held out a paw. "I'm Sigma, chief ship's doctor. Nice to meet you. Sorry to interrupt this lovely tête-á- tête, but I'm going to have to examine you. Hop up there."

As Sigma checked each square centimetre of her body for frostbite and disinfected the multiple climbing scratches covering her abdomen, Beedrill stared at the bright strip-lights overhead whilst Captain Alpha fruitlessly tried to coax Weedle from his cocoon. "Come on, little one, the nice doctor is going to see if you have any wounds and then we can see about some food. Won't that be nice? Come on, get out of there. Please."

"It's pointless, sir," Sigma said, voice muffled by the scalpel she clenched between her teeth. "Remember the last time you tried to talk to children?"

"No, but I remember that you were much sweeter when you first joined the crew."

She shrugged. "Then it's probably your fault. Anyway, I'm done. The lady should be fine after a decent night's rest and some food. I'll examine the Weedle, then I want you to get them both to the mess hall. Understood?"

Alpha closed his eyes and sighed. "Perfectly. I'll have Mu sort out cabins after supper."

"Good. Up here, kid."

* * *

Once Sigma had finally prised open the glistening cocoon, her examination revealed nothing, so the young Pokémon waved them off to the mess. Weedle was still shy, and insisted on being carried in his mother's arms and emitting embarrassed squeaks every time a crew member passed. The captain directed them through the maze of corridors, submitted to the retina scan outside the door (_Why are they so paranoid? This must be one dangerous ship) _and gave a mock bow as it slid open to reveal an enormous room built from plain steel, lined with tables of crew of every different species joking and laughing over their meals. Beedrill took advantage of the captain's queue-jumping and loaded their tray with two plates of some kind of vegetable curry, full of leaves and berries (clearly, they had to cater for many different races, including forest-dwellers) plus two energy shakes (Max Elixirs; her favourite) and reconstituted fruit (Big Apple; evidently they weren't afraid to splash out on food). Nervously, she flitted towards a bench with several empty spaces near its end, sliding in between a Machamp still sweating from a shift in the engine rooms and an Umbreon loudly debating the pros and cons of the newly installed hyperthruster the captain was planning to purchase. "Sacred Ho-oh, of course it's good and it'll add three thousand big ones to our max cruising speed, but prepare to kiss your peaceful nights goodbye. The thing's louder than the entire population of Sonurus put together, I swear to Suicune."

All of the ships that could possibly have been passing by, and she had to get picked up by this one.

She finished her food quickly, urging Weedle to do the same. The latter was mostly superfluous, as he was too nervous to eat more than a few bites. If they dumped their tray quickly and found this Mu person, they could get out of the mess without having to talk to-

"Miss Beedrill!"

_Damn. _

She spun around, and saw the captain standing behind her, smiling uncertainly. As she glared at him, his expression became rapidly more unsure. "Is there something wrong?"

"My son and I are tired, injured and need to rest. May we go to our cabins now?" she spat.

Sensing the anger that emanated from the Bug-type, Alpha opened his mouth to speak, then nodded silently, gesturing towards a floating Pokémon by the door that resembled the blue-helmeted one that had been part of the rescue party. Still looking daggers at him, the Beedrill flitted over to her and turned away as the door automatically slid shut behind them. He sighed, and walked over to a second entryway. _At least one of our clients hates me, Kyogre knows how long the trip is going to take, and I'm spending the rest of the night supervising the installation of the new machinery in R&D. Well… at least we're not out of caffeine tabs yet. _

* * *

The following morning, Beedrill stumbled groggily from her bunk to find a trio of colourful planets spiralling lazily past her window. A smart knock at the door startled her, and when she opened it and found the Captain standing outside, shuffling uneasily, her surprise grew even greater.

She decided to bite the bullet. "Look, about yesterday-"

"No, no, I'm sorry, I should have realised it would be a sensitive subject-"

"Still, I shouldn't have snapped at you-"

"Sorry." "Sorry." They stared at one another for a few seconds.

Alpha broke the silence first. "I thought you'd like to know that we'll have arrived at Kinboshi in three days' time, assuming everything goes to plan. Breakfast starts in five minutes. If you'd like something to do, I could give the two of you a tour of the ship."

"Thanks. He'll enjoy that."

And, she had to admit, an hour later, watching First Officer Tau be chased around by a far more confident Weedle, so was she. The Captain had considerately held back on giving them a lecture on the engine specifics, leaving her free to talk with the crew, who were as odd and fascinating as the ship they worked on. A Ghost/Electric type mechanic from deep space, a battle-scarred Larvitar who introduced herself as Chief Security Officer Lambda, the cheery Turtwig hailing from Bosque Verde who was currently being terrorised by her son… she hadn't seen a collection like this in years. If she could somehow inveigle the First Officer into taking over babysitting duty for the rest of the trip, she'd be set.

"MY _LEAF_! HOLY -!"

All right, maybe not Tau.

* * *

"Attention! This is the Cosmic Space Travel Authority. You are currently entering Kinboshi airspace. Please identify yourselves, over."

"This is Beta of the _Antimatter_, registration code X12T76L. Permission to land?"

"Code matches. Permission to land granted, Antimatter. Over and out."

Beta deactivated the main engines and diverted power to the down thrusters, signalling one of his co-pilots to alert the captain and passengers. Although he hated to land without his junior alerting him of his co-ordinates, bothering Captain Alpha and his somewhat annoying guest was far more satisfying. The Butterfree grinned and began to ease the ship down towards the landing pad.

The crew spilled out down the gangplank, a heaving, patchwork crowd chattering in a dozen languages, some flowing towards the pleasure districts for shore leave, others clustering in small groups with clipboards and serious expression to take care of official business. Beedrill wandered over towards where Mu had already begun to haggle with a Cyndaquil over the price of several crates of dehydrated goods, but felt a tap on her shoulder and found Captain Alpha standing behind her. He raised an eyebrow. "Did you expect me to just allow you to drift off? This place is rough. Come on."

"Where are we going?" she asked, fluttering along beside him.

"The only place to hire a ship on this blasted planet. It should be fine; just don't try any of the drinks."

Before she could question him further, they were standing in front of the neon-lit entryway.

* * *

Kinboshi; not its true name, but one fitting enough. In one of the myriad tongues that were scattered across the galaxy, it meant _gold star. _Indeed, it had been that, for many years, but no longer. A lone settler had found a deposit of the shining metal whilst attempting to dig a well. Certain crew members of a ship staying overnight to refuel had seen him, and once the rumours spread to the rest of the sector, then the galaxy, the planet's fate was sealed. Thousands of hopeful miners flocked there, and banks, shops, bars and even entire towns sprang up around them. Now, the gold rush was over and Kinboshi near-empty, surviving on the sluggish trickle of income from its spaceport, but some of the places lived on.

Spinda's Café was one such place. Its name was largely a misnomer. The bar was staffed by an opium-addicted Spinda who, for the right price, would add a sprinkle of cocaine to punters' drinks, and a Wobbuffet and Wynaut duo organised gambling and served as an outlet for the black market in the opposite corner. Most of the customers were rough, and just as criminal as its owners. However, it was just about the only place where you could charter a ship without days of paperwork, and let clients send out requests for help free, so even non-convicts valued it. The authorities should have shut it down years ago, but turned a blind eye as long as bribes turned up in neat envelopes on the Guild's desk each month. Spinda was an addict, a heartless bitch, and three steps away from a prostitute, but she was still clever.

Beedrill ignored the whistles that greeted her, as well as the Poochyena that shouted "How much?" from the back of the room, whilst Alpha sat down with an Arcanine and discussed terms. Finally, he came up beside her. "He'll do it, but he wants five hundred for the both of you. Can you manage that?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Oh, and…" She held out a scrap of paper with an account number scribbled on it. "I called the storage owner on the ship and asked her to transfer some of my items into a separate account. They're your payment. You can go and collect them now."

He was taken aback. "Wow… thank you." He took the note and folded it in half. "It's been a pleasure transporting you, Miss."

She smiled at him, then stepped out of the bar, and in an instant she was lost to the whirling bustle of the city.

When he returned to the ship, Alpha was told that Beedrill had stopped off briefly to collect Weedle, who had been playing at the edge of the landing pad, then left abruptly for her chartered ship. Mu seemed indignant that she hadn't bothered to say goodbye, but the Captain merely shrugged. Some people weren't particular fans of tearful farewells; Beedrill was evidently among their number. Resettling himself onto the command chair on the bridge, he stared straight ahead, requested that Communications Officer Xi call up their messages for the day, and instructed Beta to await orders. Life goes on, even on one of the most powerful ships in the universe.

_

* * *

_

~RECEIVING~ ~RECEIVING~

_We have succeeded. Alert the rest of the fleet. We are now proceeding to the second stage. Delete this message after you receive it and pass it on verbally to your crew. Proceed to the agreed positions and await further instructions. Tomorrow, we transmit. _

_For those of you who are not yet aware, the following ships are targeted:_

_Charm_

_Raider_

_Oblivion_

_Elemental_

_Flamebolt_

_Über_

_A.C.T_

_A.W.D_

_Constrictor_

_Antimatter_

_Over and out._

_~TRANSMISSION ENDED~ ~TRANSMISSION ENDED~_


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to grammaguy for reviewing and alerting, and Something dictionary related for alerting, as well as everyone else who read the first two chapters. **

**Warning- this is not exactly the happy world of Mystery Dungeon as seen in the games. The T rating is there for a reason. If you are fine with this… enjoy. **

* * *

Making Planetfall

Sipping a steaming cup of tea and gazing out over the balcony with the bleary eyes of five in the morning, Captain Alpha watched his ship wake up.

Although most ordinary crew groaned daily about their slave-driving officers and the even more slave-driving captain, very few of them envied them their hours. A captain of a standard three-decked 50x300 freighter could expect to wake at six and continue working until at least eleven. _He_ had around twenty-five different departments to keep track of, even the vid-phones that Communications Officer Xi had insisted he install couldn't get him out of a daily survey in person, and whatever paperwork arrived on ship appeared to be magnetically attracted to his desk.

Still, it wasn't all bad. The private cabin, the generous pay, the adrenaline rush from hunting down whichever lowlife happened to be nearest… and times like this, when he could sit back and see lights flicking on across the length of the ship as the crew working the early shift dragged themselves from their bunks, swearing quietly in their native tongues, and a glowing nebula floating past the window. Kyogre, it was almost worth the tedium of hanging around, waiting for the next job and filling out forms. During the quiet season, this, although he'd be damned if he'd admit it in public, this kind of thing kept him going.

His communicator beeped. First Officer Tau's on-the-dot summons, arriving each morning to remind him to come up to the bridge for a status report. Smiling wearily, he stepped into the elevator and ordered it to take him to Deck One.

* * *

"Anything?"

"Is a series of pixels in strange colours with some interesting pink bits included in your definition of "anything", Captain? If not, then I very much doubt it." Xi sighed, and refreshed the screen. "It's been too bloody long since we had a job. This _thing-" _(Xi hated his computer, and said "thing" with the kind of contempt others reserved for "scum") "has been on the blink for ages. When was the last time we took on a client? That Bug-type- must've been a month ago. Fifty credits says that's why it's acting up."

"Either that, or jobs have just died down for a while. Get Rho to look at it later. Email? Personal and official frequencies? V-messages?"

"Nope." The Communications Officer lifted his face from his keyboard. "Maybe we should look into something else. There are still plenty of un-mined planets out there. We have the equipment, don't we? I hear there's a demand for platinum."

"Maybe." Alpha glanced across at Beta, who spun aimlessly in his pilot's chair. "Give it till noon."

* * *

They waited.

11:37, Galactic Mean Time. Beta had dropped spinning in favour of simply staring out of the window. Tau's leaves were drooping with boredom. Security Officer Lambda snapped pencils, ignoring the evil looks that Quartermaster Mu shot her way. Alpha kept one eye on the clock, the other on a thick engineering manual that had remained on the same page for around twenty minutes. The air was heavy with silence.

An alarm sounded from Xi's workstation, causing the assembled Pokémon to leap a foot into the air. The Psychic-type tapped a key, projecting the complex symbol that had just appeared on its screen several metres above their heads. "Private message, registered to _Charm_, sir. Accept?"

_Thank Kyogre. _Alpha grinned. "Of course."

The pink hologram faded, replaced by an image of a tall, rabbit-like Pokémon sprawled lazily over a chair. "Alphy!" she smiled, depositing a luridly-coloured cocktail on the dashboard next to her. "Good to see you!"

"Morning, Lopunny. What is it now?"

Most of the captains of the Exploration and Rescue Associations preferred to take a _nom de guerre _once they ventured out towards the stars –whether just for the hell of it or to protect the history they had left behind. Some, like Alpha, stuck to a rigid naming system that was then spread across the crew. Others preferred more poetic sobriquets, labelling themselves Starslayer or Lunar Blossom. The vast majority, however, simply chose their species name, trusting to their fame to remind others of who they were. Lopunny, captain of the prospector _Charm_, belonged firmly in the latter camp.

She pouted, flopping back into her chair. "I thought you would be _pleased_ to see me. I even had a proposition to make, but if _that's _the attitude you're going to take…" One paw slipped, almost casually, dangerously close to the "end call" button.

Alpha leaned backwards, massaging his temples. "Fine. All right. I _am _pleased to see you. Now, what did you want?"

Lopunny squealed. "Knew it! I can read you like a book, Alphy dear. Anyway, I wondered if you might be interested in an exploration job. There could be big rewards-"

"A job that you, the famous Captain of the _Charm, _couldn't do?" The Captain raised an eyebrow. "Sounds risky. Besides, how do you know that I haven't already got work of my own?"

"Oh, Alphy, you are silly sometimes. This isn't an official job. Someone gave me a very interesting piece of information yesterday, and I thought that you might like to know about it. Besides…" She leaned in closer, and whispered _"The darling Deputy Guildmaster of the Association told me that you hadn't worked in over a month. So don't even try the "I'm too busy to help you" tactic, Alpha, unless you want to spend your next few years on benefits." _Reclining in her chair, she smiled triumphantly. Alpha squirmed.

"OK… if, hypothetically speaking, my crew and I _were _currently unemployed, what would we be letting ourselves in for if we… went along with you?"

"Give me a second." Lopunny removed her laptop from its bag and rotated it to face the watchers. The screen displayed a standard navigator's chart, albeit one of a particularly empty sector of space. With a couple of clicks, she zoomed in on a seemingly desolate zone, until, finally, a spinning wire-frame outline of a planet appeared.

"That, Alphy, is the currently nameless Asteroid 28C*. To this day, it has never been explored- as a matter of fact, it was discovered only this year, when a probe got lost whilst sampling radiation levels in the second quadrant of GS Hoenn. Yesterday morning, the Exploration Association cleared it for exploration by ships of Gold Rank or above. It won't be officially revealed until tomorrow, but, of course, Chatty told me ahead of schedule. At first, I thought of going it alone, before anyone else got there, but a whole planet? I'm a treasure hunter, not a masochist. So, I'm sending out the invitation to a load of other teams. You got it first, because I'm nice."

The Captain studied the diagram thoughtfully. "Are you sure this is accurate?"

"Located, authenticated by preliminary surveys, and given the official seal of approval by the Association. I even have co-ordinates." A small box popped up in the corner of the screen. "Feed those into your navigation system if you decide to come."

_Let's see. Drifting through space with absolutely no purpose and dwindling supplies, or exploring a completely new planet, possibly making a hell of a lot through claim rights, and the chance to pay that arse of a Weavile from the A.W.D back for stealing my wallet._ What a difficult decision. _Why does Lopunny have to be right so often?_

"I'll… see if I can come."

Lopunny yelled triumphantly. "I knew you would, Alphy!"

"Stop calling me that, or I will refer to you as Loppy Lopster for all eternity. Anyway, when and where are we meeting up?"

"Thirty klicks from the planet. I'll set a date when I've contacted everyone else, OK?"

"Clear as crystal, Loppy."

She grinned, blew a kiss to Tau, who immediately blushed, and swivelled back to face her crew as the screen went blank. Alpha deactivated the projector, and glanced at his officers. "Well?"

"She is getting really annoying," Mu observed, staring at the space where the hologram had previously been.

"Apart from that?"

Lambda groaned, and reached for her hip-flask. "Cut the bull, Captain. We have no other choice. We take this job, or we're screwed. End of discussion."

"I'm in," Beta grinned. "Anything that means some flying sounds good, man."

"Zeta? Tau? Xi?"

Xi slammed his file down with more than standard violence. "Just take the sodding job!"

* * *

Two days of refuelling and resupplying and a call from Lopunny later, Beta hastily dropped what he referred to as his "special cigarette" at a glare from Mu, letting it fall unlighted to the floor whilst he sped towards the bridge and his pilot's chair. Heart pounding, he collapsed into his seat and slammed the override button that closed all doors as the furious Psychic-type screeched in the corridor, pounding on the other side of the portal and threatening him with a painful death.

Alpha sat in his office, scanning through pages of preliminary data on the screen whilst waiting for Chief Navigator Iota to return with a roughly worked route. Suddenly, it froze, turned greyish and pixelated, and began emitting sounds halfway between an electrical whir and a shriek. In neat, bright-red letters, a message flashed across the screen:

_hElLo cApTaIn_

"Good to see you too, Rho. Anything to report?"

In the interference-blurred background, a small face grinned.

_mU iS cHaSiNg bEtA – sOmEtHiNg aBoUt nO nArCoTiCs oN bOaRd –-_

"Surprise, surprise. Other than that?"

_i ChEcKeD tHe cOmMs sCrEen –- dIdNt fInD aNyThInG – pRoBaBlY a tEmPoRaRy gLiTcH –- i fIxEd tHe cOfFeE mAcHiNe_

"Excellent. Could you run a check of all artillery? If there's something out there, I'd prefer to be prepared."

_iM tHeRe - bYe -_

The mass of pixels disappeared just as the Magnezone slammed the door open, spilling rolled charts onto the Captain's floor. "SORRY, SIR." Awkwardly, Iota began to scoop up the papers with his magnets. "SO CLUMSY THIS MORNING. ZZT! ANYWAY, I HAVE COME UP WITH A TOTAL OF 15 POSSIBLE ROUTES TO TAKE. IF I COULD DISCUSS THEM WITH YOU…?"

Alpha supressed a groan, and nodded.

* * *

The Tyranitar leaned forward and glared at his comms screen. The flickering hologram of the Drapion smirked back at him. "You want to come over here and say that?"

"Hey, just because you're useless and incompetent doesn't mean I want to fight you."

"Yeah, well at least-"

"Shut up!" the Gallade roared. "By Cobalon, the _Raider _is here to explore, not to watch you imbeciles squabble over the most insignificant crap imaginable. One more word out of either of you…"

"Gentlemen!" Lopunny interrupted, sweetly. "We have a meeting to get on with. I'm sure you're all _mature _enough to leave this for later. Ooh, the _Antimatter _is coming online!"

The bottom-hand left corner lit up, and was filled with an image of Alpha's smiling face. "Sorry we're late. Tech issues. Is everyone here?"

Lopunny scanned the lineup of faces quickly. "Raider, A.C.T, Constrictor, Alpha, Über, Flamebolt, A.W.D, Elemental, Oblivion… looks like it. Let's get started."

The small cluster of ships fell quiet as the assembled captains began their discussion. In the distance, a small, cloud-wrapped planet was visible, a single moon on a slow orbit round its circumference.

"As you know, ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at 28C*. Despite being relatively small, this planet is clearly too much for one team to tackle. Therefore, Gardevoir has divided the planet into ten sectors. Each team will take one, with exclusive claim to any treasures, archaeological sites, mineral-bearing land, or other artefacts of interest discovered. We go down in three hours. Questions?"

"Is that it?" Alpha raised an eyebrow. "What about information on the planet? Native species? Terrain? Weather? Come on, there must be something. Don't tell me no-one has thought of sending a probe down yet."

Lopunny fidgeted, and looked uncomfortable. "Alphy… it's not so much that we haven't sent probes down, it's what happens to the probes when they get down there…"

"_What?"_

The Rabbit Pokémon turned to the Typhlosion on her left. "Could you show him, Honō?"

"Why does it have to be me? I've already used two."

"Honō, please…"

"Fine! Watch closely, Alpha, because I'm not doing this twice." He typed in a short command sequence, then gestured violently to the starboard window.

A silver-coloured probe, lights blinking around its head, jettisoned itself from the underbelly of the _Flamebolt _and sped towards the planet. Within five minutes, it had disappeared into the opaque atmosphere. Lopunny leaned forwards and muttered "Wait for it…"

The probe shot from the planet, spools of multicoloured wire protruding from gaps in its gleaming metal surface, dented and with its LEDs rapidly flicking on and off. It continued off into the distance, seemingly heading for the planet's moon. Halfheartedly, Honō tried a couple of keys. Oblivious to his commands, the probe smashed into the featureless lunar surface. The Typhlosion turned away from the small plume of dust and glared at Alpha. "Now do you see?"

"Holy Manaphy. Has this been happening with all of them?"

"Every last one. The R & D department from Über thinks it might be a strong electromagnetic field knocking out its navigation system. Since it takes too long to go and recover the probes, we won't know until we get down there."

The Drapion shot him a crooked grin. "Now might be a good time to chicken out, Alph."

"Unlike you, the thought of backing out never occurred to me, moron. After all, someone has to hold your claw if you get scared."

"You wouldn't be saying that if I snapped your little legs-"

"Shut up, both of you!" Lopunny shouted. "Everyone, sign off and get ready. Gardevoir just sent a message with the locations of your designated sectors on. You have permission to mess with anyone that steps over your borders. No thieving, no unprovoked attacks, no screwing around. Does everyone get that, or do I have to pound it into your stupid heads first?"

Silence fell.

"I'm taking that as a no."

* * *

Alpha let out a deep breath, and snapped the file shut. He stared at his assembled officers.

"I'm going to be completely honest here- I have no idea what might be on that planet. No-one does. As such, we could face virtually anything. This could be very dangerous- possibly fatal. Is that clear?"

Their expressions remained inscrutable. "Yes, Captain."

"Good. Since we have no idea what species or terrain to anticipate, I will restrict the primary team to those with the most combat and exploration experience. First Officer, you will join us as second-in-command."

"Sir!"

"Security Officer, you are the best fighter we have, so I'm taking you as well. If the Artillery Chief is willing to join us, that should give us a range of abilities capable of countering most threats. Xi, I want you to stay on board and give us all the data you can get. Keep a comms channel constantly open with the Chief Medic and pilot. I want all the officers taking part in the mission to have a second-in-command replace them on ship- someone you can trust. All departments are on official alert from the moment we touch down. Everyone understand?"

"Sir!"

"Excellent. It's currently… two hours until planetfall. Prep equipment then get down to the matter transporters. We have a world to explore."

* * *

Lambda wrenched a dead tree aside. "Shit. Still nothing."

Behind her, Alpha tapped his communicator. "How long have we been down here, Xi?"

"Erm… around three hours."

"And we've covered, what, forty square kilometres? Nothing. There's something very wrong here. It's not that the planet's dead. We've seen all kinds of plant life since touching down, just no sentient species. And this fog…"

The small group was shrouded in a thick layer of mist, making vision beyond a couple of metres impossible. It was completely impenetrable, and all-pervasive, having been present from the very instant that they had found themselves on a nearby ridge and clung to them ever since. In their career as professional explorers, they had faced everything from howling sandstorms to torrential rain, yet they had never experienced conditions like this. From the handful of atmospheric scans they had managed to conduct since touchdown, there was nothing harmful in the fog; it was just …strange.

"Sir!" Zeta called from his station. "I see something!" The Psychic-type pointed in the direction of yet another swirling wall of mist. Initially, it seemed identical to the others, yet when they focused, they could discern a vague silhouette moving towards them.

"What should we do?" Tau asked, automatically shifting into a combat pose.

"Not yet. Stay back and support us with Razor Leaf if we need it." He nodded, and raced off to take up position behind the others. "You two, wait until we determine if it's hostile. Try not to use lethal force, unless-"

"We know." Tendrils of dark energy coiled around Lambda's forearms. "Whatever _that _is, we're ready."

As the creature stumbled into their midst, Zeta sent a stream of flame in its direction. It squeaked "Oww!" and fell over. Surprised, the team from the _Antimatter_ looked down to see a heavily breathing Lopunny, now slightly scorched, who looked up and panted "You, too?"

"Shoulda said hi, Lop," another shape said gruffly from behind her, revealing itself as Medicham as she moved forwards. Gardevoir followed suit, daintily holding her skirt up as she stepped across a fallen branch. "You guys found anything?"

The Captain shook his head. "Zilch."

"Same here," Lopunny sighed, pulling herself from the ground. "Just the fog." She glanced across at them, and her face became desperate. "Could we join up? We're more likely to find something with all of us searching. Please?"

Alpha glanced back at his team; Tau nodded hopefully. "Do we split ownership rights?"

"Yeah, of course."

"OK. You three, bring up the rear. Stay on the alert, and if you do anything that might give away our position you're out. Got it?"

"Thank you!" Lopunny beamed, then covered her mouth guiltily as the sound echoed into the fog. Dropping her voice, she whispered "You won't regret it."

"Fine. Let's go."

The combined crews of the two ships readjusted their gear, touched their badges briefly for luck, then stepped into the fog, pale tendrils wrapping around them as their shadows slowly faded into the distance.

* * *

"_-Shit! Something just hit me in the leg…"_

"_Is it bleeding? Quick, let me-"_

"…_there's something here, I can feel it…"_

"_Turn around, you idiots! If they attack from the rear, we could be dead in five minutes!"_

"…_oh, Arceus-"_

"_-that thing was poisoned…"_

"_Ready attacks!"_

"…_no, no, no…"_

"_Son of a bitch! Comms are down-"_

"_SOMETHING JUST MOVED! OVER THERE! I SAW IT!"_

_Screams filled the mist-laden air. _

* * *

Sigma sprinted through the shining white corridors, roughly pushing crew aside, her guerney struggling to keep up with her pace. Its motor whirring uncontrollably, it gave a feeble whine and crashed to the floor. She snatched a handful of implements and half-a-dozen syringes of morphine and raced on.

A couple of Sandslash blocked her way, demanding to know what the hell she was doing. She sent a sharp burst of razor-sharp leaves into their faces, slammed her body into the taller, sending him sprawling into a storage room, then sucker-punched the second in the kidneys. Hastily, she recovered her dropped tools, glared at the astonished occupants of the elevator that had arrived that instant on their floor, and gestured with a scalpel, as if to say that they might be next on the list. They took in her unruly foliage, bared fangs, and wild stare, and fled.

The elevator reached the third deck with a cheery _ping_. Sigma burst through the rubber curtains into the main medical bay, and gasped. Unable to tear her eyes away, she bent to the ground and retched. Every wound she had healed on board, every corpse she had dissected in the University of Rakkī, every time she had struggled through the night with a complex operation- none of that could have prepared her for that sight.

Tau lay quietly in bed, his constant smile reduced to a grimace. His eyes were closed, and his leaves were reaching towards the bright halogen lights overhead. He could have been asleep, if it were not for the thick layers of bandages that were wrapped round his torso, and the bruise of red that had soaked through to stain the sheet despite their presence.

Zeta had been plunged deep into a coma, but the false peace that his unconsciousness gave him did nothing to disguise the third-degree burns that covered his body, the normally healthy blue flesh blackened and peeling.

Lambda still remained half-conscious, weakly thrashing as the anaesthetics worked their sluggish way through her veins and the disinfectant gel dried on the exposed wound where a chunk had been ripped viciously from her side. Her typing, normally one of her strongest assets, could only make healing more slow and painful now. Sigma looked away.

Lopunny, arm still bandaged in a hastily-made sling, sat sobbing on a plastic chair as Medicham tried to console her, ignoring her own splinted wrist. Beside them, Gardevoir lay beneath a single sheet, chest spike snapped, the regular beeps of the heart monitor becoming steadily weaker.

At the end of the ward, Alpha stared towards the ceiling, one eye closed. The other socket was empty, a trail of dried blood patterning his cheek. A cut across his abdomen could have been a flesh wound or a punctured lung. In silence, defeated, the explorers succumbed to the cocktail of emergency painkillers dulling their senses, as the engines fired and began to propel them away from the new world and the electrocardiograph continued to fade.

**

* * *

**

For those of you confused about Rho's speech, a single dash indicates a comma or (funnily enough) a dash, and a double dash is roughly equivalent to a full stop.

**Any glaring errors with the science aspect aside from the standard Pokémon lolphysics? If so, please tell me in a review or PM, as well as anything else I missed. Thanks again for reading.- Arcanus**


	4. Chapter 4

V is for Vendetta

_Log of the Antimatter, 28/4/4336_

_Ship on course to Fulgaris. All engines, software, comms equipment and artillery functioning as normal. Defibrillators running low on power. Supplies of food adequate for two weeks' travelling. Supplies of disinfectants and anaesthetics dwindling. Morale increasingly low among crew members. Three non-crew on board, all injured. _

_Incapacitated Personnel:_

_First Officer Tau. Severe injuries in the abdominal area; examinations revealed some damage to the digestive tract. Photosynthesising capacity may be affected. Confined to Medical Bay for at least a week, taking painkillers and glucose supplements. Condition stable._

_Artillery Chief Zeta. Third-degree burns on torso, arms, legs and tail; cell samples have been taken and replacement skin is being prepared for surgery in three days' time. Examination of the wounds suggests that the attacker was a Dark-type. Officer is comatose. Treatment consists of anti-coagulating agents and anaesthetics. Quartermaster and Communications Officer have volunteered to attempt to effect an artificial return to consciousness. Condition serious, but stable._

_Security Chief Lambda. Large amount of flesh removed from left side; officer is being placed on a course of growth-stimulating minerals, as tissue replacement is inadvisable. Also taking painkillers. Condition stable, release permissible in six days. _

_Captain. Three broken ribs, minor damage to heart. Left eye torn from socket. Disinfectant gel being applied twice a day; missing one of these treatments may lead to losing the possibility of creating and implanting a replacement. Confined to Medical Bay for at least ten days; taking painkillers. Condition serious, but stable. _

_Two of the non-crew have suffered broken bones, and the other's condition is still extremely serious. If she revives, her psychic abilities may be impaired, and pain will persist for some months. All other personnel healthy. _

_Suggest setting course to nearby hospital planet for more specialist treatment once refuelling is complete. _

_Chief Medic Sigma_

* * *

Sigma, blinking away the last traces of sleep, entered the ward. Mu and Xi looked up and gave her tired nods in greeting, sprawled, exhausted, over their chairs. Beside them, Zeta remained still and silent. One of her subordinates, a Leavanny, hurried over to her, showing her a group of charts and numbers arranged across the digi-tablet he clutched. "Chief, all patients remain stable. The Security Chief's blood oxygen levels have increased by-″

"Spare it. Give me the basics."

"Everyone is on track for recovery. Except…erm…" He stared down at his leaf-clad arms. "We appear to have run out of painkillers."

The Shaymin froze, turned, and glared at him. "Are you a complete imbecile?"

"No, ma'am, I just thought you might know-″

"Show some damned initiative! We currently have a total of three Chansey, one Blissey, and two Togetic on board. All of the above naturally generate morphine on a day-to-day basis, thus solving our problem! It would take around half an hour to synthesise and purify." One of her vines struck him a glancing blow on the side of his head. "Thirty minutes. How many crew members could have gone critical in that time? This isn't an exam; you are responsible for _lives. _Now get the hell out of my ward and do something useful."

The Leavanny's mouth opened and closed several times before he sprinted out, leaving the bay quiet. Lambda sat up and grinned. "Thanks."

"No trouble at all."

"Sigma?" Mu rose, and floated across to her. "It's been a week. You promised…"

She sighed, and the flowers on her temples withered slightly. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that operation is? He has a 40% chance of dying, and even if he survives we have no guarantee that it will end the coma. You might think you're skilled, and that it could never go wrong, because you're supposed to be some kind of legendary, but it doesn't work like that. I've lost patients; do you want to lose _him?_"

The Quartermaster met her eyes with a defiant, amber-eyed stare. "My brother would not want to live like this."

"If you want to take responsibility for this, then fine, but if this goes to the Justices-"

"It won't."

Sigma turned away. "Give him until 1600, then we perform the procedure."

"Thank you." Both dipped their heads, and Xi left his chair. Hovering over his captain as Sigma held her vines beneath the frozen blast of the sterilisation tap, he muttered "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better." Alpha smiled weakly, and readjusted himself beneath the covers. "Hopefully, I should be up and running soon, unless Sigma starts being a fascist again. Any developments I should know of?"

"The _Oblivion _called earlier and requested that you join a conference call this afternoon, should you feel up to it. They didn't say what you'd be discussing, but I think, given the circumstances-"

"They don't need to." He nodded. "I can do it, but the small green problem over there insists I stay here for the next week or so."

"That's the thing. It's scheduled to begin at 1600, when … she'll be operating."

"On Zeta?"

"Yes."

"Fuck. Xi, you're involved in this, I can't make you come and manage the transmission for my sake."

"You don't have to _make _me do anything, Captain. This is a decision taken entirely of my own free will. Mu can manage alone for a few minutes. I can move you to a private booth, set the channel up, then come and pick you up afterwards."

"Rationality might be your speciality, but could you take it if-″

"Sir, the welfare of the ship as a whole takes priority. This isn't a case of my attempting to be noble and self-sacrificing; it's simply the only possibility."

The Captain's one remaining eye looked up into Xi's twin closed lids. "You really think this is the best course of action?"

"Yes."

"Well, three years' loyal service has to count for something. I trust your judgement. Can you return here at 1530?"

A relieved smile spread across his face. "Of course."

* * *

The Quartermaster carefully tied a surgical mask over her mouth. "Xi will be here soon. He just has a few duties to take care of," she told Sigma, voice muffled. "You know what he's like at delegating responsibility." A translucent violet aura flared briefly around her tentacles, drawing them back and looping them into a knot.

The Shaymin gave her a cursory glance. "Save your energy. You'll need that soon enough. This procedure tends to leave the involved Psychic-types exhausted, and if you faint halfway through, we're stuffed. I'm only here to supervise. You're effectively on your own."

Several decks above them, Alpha and Xi ducked into an empty room filled with smoothly-humming computer terminals and a couple of large screens. The Communications Officer carried a laptop, whilst his Captain's left eye was covered by a plain black patch. Alpha seated himself in front of a deactivated hologram generator.

"All right," Xi panted, notes of panic clear in his tone, "the A/4 code accepts a message from a ship registered as friendly, C/2 sets up the conference call, and X ends the session. D/5 initiates data transfer-″

Alpha waved him away. "I can cope. Go!"

The Uxie sped from the room, the doors silently sliding closed behind him. Turning away, the Mudkip typed in a series of passwords, then breathed a sigh of relief as the generator whirred into life and projected a blank screen into the air. He stretched, and settled back to wait. _How many of us will be left? _

The first to arrive was a grim-looking Tyranitar, who nodded at him in greeting. "Hi."

"You all right?"

"Fine. Alakazam's been out of the picture for weeks and Charizard had stuff to take care of. What happened to your eye?"

"Some psycho tore it out."

"Shit."

"Mmm-hmm."

They sat in silence for several more minutes, until a red logo blinked into life beside their images and became the frowning face of Gallade, blades crossed and resting on the table before him. One was healthy, if a little scratched, the other covered in bandages. They talked briefly, then fell quiet again when Lopunny appeared, exchanging tired, thin-lipped smiles. Steadily, other pictures flashed up across the screen until only the bottom right-hand corner remained empty, filling it with haggard, battle-scarred captains, most still splinted and bandaged, all trying to plaster their usual cocky smiles across their faces, but failing to hide the grimaces of agony that spasmed through the disguise.

Last to arrive was Arkhaios, the Empoleon that had ruled the _Oblivion _with an iron fist for the past five years. Coolly, he scanned the assembled Pokémon and nodded. "Well, we all seem to be here. To business."

Lopunny started, then frantically checked each portrait. "No, that can't be right, we're still missing-″ She cut herself off mid-speech as realisation spread through her. "Oh, Arceus…"

"It was my fault," the Blaziken second from left growled.

"Stop blaming yourself," Gallade insisted, weariness in his voice.

"Shut up, Lade, OK?"

"What _happened?" _Lopunny begged.

Blaziken straightened, indignant, ready to hurl abuse at the trembling Rabbit Pokémon, then slumped. He covered his face. "Venus was sick," his muffled voice told her. "She was checking through the job bulletin and the flashing brought on an epileptic fit. I knew she'd take ages to recover, and Constrictor were impatient, so I told them… to go ahead. They didn't stand a chance. Fuck, you know what they were like, even Oblivion got taken out. Constrictor were barely scraping Gold Rank. What was I supposed to do?" He raised his head, anger and guilt shining in the blue irises.

"Isn't there any…"

"No. Their communicators had been registering no pulse for twenty-four hours. Crew scrammed after that; they knew the regulations."

"Sacred Meloetta."

Arkhaios coughed pointedly. "I concede that what happened to Constrictor was a tragedy. We are all aware of that. Equally, we have all been personally injured by whatever was responsible for the ambush. Should we not be focusing on revenge before we spend our time mourning the dead?"

Lopunny turned on him "How dare you?"

"He's right, Lop." Hearing Alpha speak up for the first time since the conference began, his fellow captains turned, surprised, and stared at the small blue Pokémon. "Besides, destroying the ambushers will be revenge for Constrictor, too."

"Are we all in agreement?" the Empoleon asked, glancing around. No-one replied, but they simply stared back, daring anyone to try and dissuade them.

"Very well." He sat back, regarding his allies through the golden crown-mask that covered most of his face. "Obviously, we must hunt them down. What we do when we find them, whoever they are, is a matter for later, but they will suffer for what they did to us. However, first we must locate them."

Stahl.34, a Metagross hailing from Ferrite who captained the _Über, _raised a metallic eyebrow. "Simple enough," he informed them gruffly. "A return to the planet and a few scans in conjunction with a request for information broadcast across all channels should yield results fast."

"How long before all of us can be ready? That is, if no-one wishes to abstain?" The last sentence, clearly directed at Lopunny, was ignored. She shot him a dark look. "A few days, maximum?"

"Hmmm… satisfactory. We return to 28C* two weeks from now. Expect no babysitting; be there or find them yourselves. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some preparations to make." He tapped the keyboard, and his small section of screen went blank.

* * *

Exhausted, Beedrill peered through the vine-strangled trees, and turned, exasperated, to see her son slithering along the ground at an achingly slow pace. "Hurry up! We're almost home."

"I'm tired," the Weedle panted, and sped up slightly. "Can we rest now?"

"Not far to go," she promised, scooping him into her forelimbs. "Daddy is waiting."

Inside the grass-thatched hut, it was dark, filled with cooking smoke and the scent of dried berries. On a thin mattress, a bony silhouette shivered, piled with blankets, and, seeing them enter, let out a hacking cough. "Welcome, _grach_, home, my dear."

She dropped Weedle to the floor and frantically fanned the dying fire. "How long have you been like this? You should have hired a messenger-″

"Never mind. Did you…?"

Closing her eyes, she nodded. "Yes," she whispered. "I did it."

"Good, good." The Pokémon retched a couple of times, with nothing left in his stomach to vomit, the anxious stares of wife and child following him as he grew closer and closer to death.

* * *

"I've never heard anything so ridiculous in my life!"

The shout reverberated through the sanitised hallways of the _Antimatter, _causing the crew passing through them to roll their eyes and silently sympathise with the target of the Chief Medic's rage. If there had ever been a better candidate for anger-management lessons, they had yet to find them. Still, minor issues like that didn't stop her being an astoundingly good doctor-most injuries could be healed with thirty minutes of stitching and ranting at the patient. Besides, the Captain and Sigma had had their fair share of arguments before; he would survive.

Probably.

"You," (her vines snapped out from her back to point at the determined-looking Alpha) "sneak out of the ward to go and hold a conference with your fellow lunatics, make it back for a disinfectant application with just moments to spare, cut all your physiotherapy sessions short to go and check on the running of the ship, overstrain yourself around twice per day, and all of this resulting from the aftermath of just the one crisis. Not even the most moronic intern imaginable would pronounce you fully healed. And now you want to go back and inflict more pain on yourself. Remind me, how, precisely, did you ever become a captain?"

"It's not as if we're going to go back and immediately be plunged into a battle. Before we do anything we actually have to _find _our opponents, which, you'll be pleased to hear, could take months. I imagine that would give me plenty of time for recovery?"

"Even if you came out fine, what about the rest of your crew? What about Lambda? What about _Zeta?" _She hurled the last word with venom. Alpha flinched, but refused to look away.

"They can survive. They've come back alive from every mission so far, which is a fairly impressive record considering what we tend to get ourselves into. How many other Pokémon could have done that? Faced down mafiosos? Destroyed entire fleets? Sneaked on board the _HGSS Scar, _sabotaged it in half an hour then got out with hardly a scratch? Kyogre above, Sigma. How pessimistic can you be?"

She glowered at him. "I think you meant 'considering what _I _tend to get us into'."

"Sigma." He closed his eyes and sighed. "You're a superb medic, incredibly intelligent, despite all evidence to the contrary, one of the best in your profession, and if you ran your own ship it would be one of the most successful in the gigasector. However, you clearly don't. I have the final decision. If you're opposed to this mission, too bad."

"What happened?" she snarled. "What the hell came along and turned you into a selfish motherfucker who can't see that there are lives at stake?"

He kept his stare trained deliberately on a patch of wall immediately behind her. "Surely you still have some patients to attend to, Chief Medic?"

Furious, Sigma spun and stalked towards the nearest elevator. "I'm sure I can cope, as long as you don't send any more my way."

* * *

On board the _Oblivion, _harried technicians scattered as Arkhaios, dark scowl clouding his face, prowled towards the R & D Department. One fell, and dropped a sheaf of papers to the floor; his captain observed him with contempt, and walked over the disordered data.

He halted briefly for the retina scan, then brushed his second-in-command aside and stepped into the central laboratory. A handful of lab-coated scientists snapped to attention at the hiss of the door mechanism and saluted hurriedly- all except one, a red-and-white dragon whose face-markings resembled a mask, starched jacket drawn awkwardly over her arched back, who remained fixated on the test-tubes she studied, whispering a prayer and staring into the gritty, blackened contents. One of her assistants winced, whilst the others kept their expressions carefully impassive.

"Miss Cortesia." She jumped. One of the vials she clutched awkwardly in a stubby hand slipped through her fingers and landed in a mess of glass and dark-coloured powder on the workbench. Arkhaios raised an eyebrow. "Your general lack of co-ordination aside, how is the analysis progressing?"

Cortesia snatched up a dustpan, cheeks a deeper shade of scarlet than usual, and frantically began swiping at the remnants of the destroyed sample. "Fine…sir."

"Really?"

Nervously, she nodded.

The edge of a sharpened fin slammed into her neck, sending her flying across the room in a drunken pirouette. A second blow pinned her to the wall, centimetres away from her captain's angry stare. Hot breath filled her nostrils.

"I believe our definitions of "fine" may be somewhat different, Miss Cortesia. Do we currently know who we are looking for?"

An involuntary whimper escaped her, and she shook her head, quivering violently.

"Precisely. Now, some might be inclined to regard this as a matter of little importance, but I'm afraid to say I disagree." The hooked golden spikes on his forearm gleamed increasingly close to her throat. "In fact, I might go so far as to say that a lack of results may mean a loss of a job. Do I make myself absolutely, unequivocally clear?"

Somehow, her frozen body managed to squeeze out a miniscule nod.

"Good, good." The shining claws stroked along her jaw, then drew back and buried themselves into the wall. "I imagine the independent life no longer suits you so well- and such a disappointment to your brother. Results by this evening, if you would be so good." With that, he released her, and strode away, as Laboratory One erupted into a frenzy of activity, Cortesia's panicked instructions sounding clearly over all the rest.

* * *

The War Room, located on the fifth deck, had long been one of Arkhaios' favourites. Panelled in elegant (and illegal) mahogany, walls decorated with fading antique charts, and with sumptuous chairs that were infinitely more comfortable than the barbaric steel kind scattered over the rest of the ship, he had always regarded it as the last stronghold against the forces of bad taste, and could not imagine a better place to relax when tired of the incompetence of crewmen or enemies' pathetic attempts on his life. His eyes narrowed at the last thought, and he sipped his second glass of wine.

A polite knock sounded at the door. "Second Officer reporting, sir."

Arkhaios suppressed his annoyance. "Come in."

Nox, a tall, red-maned Zoroark from the Oneiros system, entered the room and snapped to attention, bringing a waft of disinfectant in with him. Arkhaios had the sudden intuition that he would be needing the rest of the bottle that evening. "At ease."

The biped gave him a grateful look and collapsed into an empty chair. "Would you like my report now, sir?"

"No," his captain decided, studying the swirling liquid. "The Chief Researcher has yet to deliver her conclusions. She has…" (he removed a silver fob watch from the table where it lay) "fifteen minutes."

"Let me through!" Cortesia demanded, staring at the group of heavily-built Fighting-types that blocked her path. She thrust her laminated ID badge towards them. "Immediately!"

The largest, a Machamp, shook his head. "Captain won't like being disturbed."

"I have important information on the identity of our attackers!"

He backed away. "We can work something out, right?"

Cortesia barrelled past him, the sonic boom echoing down the corridors and just concealing her final "Screw you".

Elated, she burst into the War Room, waving a thick wad of printouts. "Sir! I worked out what we were doing wrong! We kept checking the samples for traces of legal fuel- like ours- but we didn't think that the criminals could be using banned sources! We found a load of carbon isotopes, some uranium residue… everything. If we check the archives, we could find them within the hour!"

"Do you have anything on when the engine could be from?"

"Probably the very early 4300s, judging by the traces we found," she replied, exhilarated, eyes shining. "They haven't updated since, so if they're a team, they probably founded then."

Cortesia was little prepared for what would happen in the following few minutes.

The Captain choked mid-swallow. Deliberately, with a slow, careful movement, he replaced his glass on the table. He then reached for his communicator and pressed the central button. "Noesis? Cross-reference teams founded in the 00s with ships using illegal power sources."

Impatient, Nox and Cortesia waited for the reply.

A note of panic came into the Empoleon's voice. "You're completely sure? No others?"

Noesis' answer was inaudible, but the two officers could guess its content. Arkhaios paled to a dull greyish colour, then swayed and toppled towards the ground. Both clutched at him, demanding to know what had happened. "Sir? Sir? Are you all right, sir?"

"_Them," _Arkhaios gasped, pulling himself upright.

Nox gripped his shoulder, shaking his captain violently. "Who?"

"The Front," he snarled, then fled from the chamber.

* * *

**SORRY ABOUT THE EXTREMELY LATE UPDATE. I have been very busy for the past three weeks, meaning I couldn't do much in the way of writing… and then I leave you with a cliffhanger. My evil knows no bounds. With luck, it shouldn't happen again for a while. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thanks for reading. **

**Until next time.-Arcanus**


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